Analysis
As always, thanks to everyone who took part in this latest poll. While we weren't so surprised that the majority of people who voted choose not to rent a car at all in Las Vegas -- with the Deuce Bus, the new Arrow, the monorail, and taxis, there are plenty of ways to get around town without your own wheels. Just check out our Transportation listings (in 'Visitor Info' and 'Stay' sections). We were, however, surpised that the next-most popular option was chosen by people who love the new set-up.
Before the new consolidated Rent-A-Car Center opened in April, we were inundated with queries from people eager to know when it would debut. Then, once it had, we were inundated with emails from people complaining about how much they hated it! Here are a few examples:
- 'My brother just returned from a trip to Las Vegas and said the new parking facility is a royal pain to use, as the whole process is slow and inconvenient.'
- 'I rent a car at least once a month at McCarran. The service is significantly poorer than that which was provided by the rental companies themselves. The workers treat everyone like cattle, with no respect.'
- 'There were no cars to be had when we arrived in the garage. This was never a problem with the old Thrifty lot. We had to wait about 30 additional minutes (at midnight) to get any vehicle.'
- 'I waited in line for an hour behind only 10 people at Budget. Our friends were just there and they waited almost as long. In both cases, there were Budget folks coming and going (mostly going) and NOT adequately staffing the counters. THEN they'd spend most of the time badgering you to buy all the extra insurance they want to sell. Grrrr!! VERY poor customer service.'
You get the picture. However, all we can think is that this kind of feedback has reached the ears of the powers that be and that service has improved, which was our personal experience when we checked it out recently (see November, 2007
LVA). At peak times, you are likely to experience some waiting time, but with 479 happy voters and 430 who found the service acceptable, we can only assume that teething problems are being addressed and that things are getting better.
A lot of people write to us asking for our and other readers' experiences of the Rent-A-Car facility and we hope this first-hand poll feedback provides you with some useful pointers about what other users think.
We'll sign off with a useful tip we received from a couple of readers, which can definitely save you time.
- 'Join a rental car 'club' like National's Emerald Club, where you go directly to the auto and pick one out. When I used the rental building I had no waiting whatsoever!'
- 'I am a member of Thrifty's BlueChip program. As long as you sign in on the computer site before you rent a car, you can proceed directly to your car, where all your paper work is waiting. Saves a lot of time.'
